


Fanning the Flames

by misura



Category: Fantastic Four (Movies 2005-2007)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8800861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "So you're admitting to me, out loud, that you've got a thing for Ben," Sue said slowly.
"Yes, I've got a thing for the Thing." Johnny rolled his eyes. "Somebody alert the media."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reeby10](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/gifts).



It started with the action figure - or, fine, the _prototype_ of the action figure, which Mr No Sense of Humor kind of crushed, thus more or less forcing Johnny to get another one, plus a couple of spares, just in case. (Johnny knew a good thing when he saw it, and this stuff? Pure gold. Comedy gold, possibly, but still gold, and hey, it wasn't as if he couldn't get them for free.)

Then, of course, there was the (exclusive! it went without saying) poster you could only get by buying all four action figures and mailing in a stamp card or something. Johnny didn't think anyone could really hold it against him that he didn't want an action figure of his own sister, or the nerd she'd been in love with since high school, so he just got another four of Ben, mailed in his card, and sent a persuasive, possibly slightly suggestive video message to the company handling the poster requests.

Contrary to his expectations, the video did not end up on YouTube in two days. Johnny considered posting it himself, but by then, they'd started working on some designs for lunch boxes, which clearly needed a lot of input. Besides, he'd received an e-mail confirming he'd be getting his poster 'within the next three to six weeks', so he let it go.

The lunch box people proved a bit stubborn ("It's lunchin' time"? _seriously_?) so in the end, all he got out of _that_ were two stern talking-tos re: when it was not appropriate to set things on fire and an only moderately fun lunch box that sold rather poorly. Johnny's sold best, which was sweet, sweet victory, although he felt a bit offended on Ben's behalf, because nobody deserved to be outsold by Reed "Let me tell you some fun nutritional facts" Richards. Clearly, the world was full of far too responsible parents.

After the lunch boxes, things really got rolling.

 

Sue ruined it.

Not on purpose, probably, but she walked in on him just as he was repositioning Ben's latest action figure (it came with a _plastic rock_ ) and instead of saying, oh, maybe something like, _"Sorry I came in without knocking, let me do that again,"_ she said:

"Wow. I had no idea you were such a fan. That's kind of cute. Pathetic, but cute."

"Beg pardon?" Johnny said. Sue was tough to bullshit, but he'd managed it before, when it really counted, and while it might be fun to see Ben's face when someone told him Johnny was 'such a fan', the long-term effects would be far less so.

Besides, it wasn't even true.

"You know he lives right here in this building, right? You could get an autograph."

"Funny," said Johnny, thinking fast. "Except not really. Come on, Sue. You want to tell me you haven't got a single one of Reed's squirreled away somewhere?"

"Oh, right," Sue said. "Because you and Ben, you're just like Reed and me, aren't you?"

Johnny noted that at least she hadn't denied it outright. That was good. That meant he had something to work with here. "Fine, fine, not a great comparison. My bad."

"Is it? Is it really?" Sue's tone was getting dangerously close to 'oh, _Johnny_ ' territory.

"Well, yeah," Johnny said. "I mean, obviously. Me and Ben?"

"Right," said Sue. "He's probably a bit too mature for you, huh? Not as if you could sit down and actually talk to him like a normal human being."

" 'A normal human being' is definitely one thing he's not. Along with, oh, I don't know, 'having a sense humor'? 'Being the least bit sexy'? Stuff like that."

"I was actually talking about you."

"Right," said Johnny, even though it kind of really wasn't. "I knew that."

 

Sue didn't tell Ben right away, probably to give Johnny time to reflect on the error of his ways without the constant distraction of someone trying to clobber him.

Johnny thought long and hard about the best way to salvage the situation. Ideally, he'd get something really good on Sue, but several forays into hostile (or at least foreign) territory got him nothing except some odd looks from Reed, who did at least have the courtesy to buy some bullshit story about Johnny planning a birthday surprise for Sue - "Sure, it's not for another five months, but you never know when another crisis happens. Better to plan in advance, right?" (Reed had actually looked vaguely impressed, the poor sap.)

There was a tense moment at breakfast one morning, when Ben gave him a weird look and said, "So hey, Johnny, you all right? You've been kind of quiet lately. Not coming down with something, are you?"

"Only way I'm going is up," said Johnny, shooting a 'Did you tell him? I cannot believe you told him, I feel so betrayed now' look at Sue, who rolled her eyes by way of saying 'No, I didn't,' with a strong dose of 'Oh, _Johnny_ '. "But thanks, Ben. Nice to know you care."

Ben muttered and grumbled a bit, and that was when 'a tense moment' turned into something else.

Johnny realized that he'd just had an epiphany.

 

"Sheesh. I asked about your health once. _Once_!" Ben said.

Johnny smiled a smile that had melted - well, no, _technically_ speaking, they probably hadn't been harder hearts than Ben's. "And your concern was very much appreciated."

Ben gave him a dark look. "All right, Flame Boy, what's your game?"

"I think you and I could - no, _should_ be friends. Best friends, even," Johnny said, holding out his hand. "I mean, Reed's busy, Sue's married, why waste time arguing when we could be hanging out and having fun together?"

"Thought we were already doing that," Ben muttered.

"All right." Johnny raised his hands. "Fine. I'll admit, I had fun kicking your ass, but, you know, I'm trying to be a little bit more mature here."

"You had fun kicking _my_ ass?" Ben asked. "Sounds like _someone_ might need a good clobbering to get their brains straightened out."

Johnny nearly took him up on that challenge before he remembered The Plan. It was a good plan. Reed might have wept at the genius of it. "Now, is that any way for a pair of responsible adults to behave?"

Things got a bit hazy after that.

 

When he opened his eyes again, there was light.

Two seconds later, there wasn't, anymore, as something big and bulky and ugly had placed itself between the light and Johnny.

"I swear, it was not my fault," said Johnny. "This time," he added, in the interest of honesty.

"Yeah," Ben said. "So. Turns out you were you after all."

Johnny took a moment to work his way through that statement. "You thought I was someone else?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, some of the stuff you were saying - that sure didn't sound like the Johnny _I_ know." Ben scowled. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, I'll come up with some way you can make it up to me." Johnny grinned.

"Hey now," said Ben. "I'm not _that_ sorry."

Johnny winced. "Can you maybe not yell. My head really hurts."

Ben scowled some more. "Fine. Want me to get you a glass of water or something? Some aspirin?"

"Only if you're going to dress up like a sexy nurse."

Ben digested that for a few moments. Johnny doubted that Ben actually _had_ a nurse's uniform, but who knew? Maybe he was honestly considering it, in which case Johnny would probably die laughing. "Let me go see if Reed's around."

The idea of Reed in a sexy nurse's uniform was kind of a buzzkill, Johnny decided.

 

"Guess he turned you down, huh?" Sue said.

Reed had apparently been busy doing something science-y, so Sue had come instead, to scan his head and assure Ben that Johnny was entirely himself and completely all right.

Ben had expressed his great joy at the news by grumbling a bit and stomping off.

"Actually, I just suggested that maybe we could be friends," said Johnny.

"Right."

"I did!" Johnny protested. "Give me some credit, Sue. I'm not a complete idiot. This is Ben. So I figured, you know, best to take things slow. I mean, not like he's getting tons of love-letters every week."

Sue frowned.

"What I mean is, it's not like there's a lot of competition," Johnny clarified. "I've got a clear field."

"So you're admitting to me, out loud, that you've got a thing for Ben," Sue said slowly.

"Yes, I've got a thing for the Thing." Johnny rolled his eyes. "Somebody alert the media."

"You've really been thinking about this a lot, huh?"

"Come on, it's kind of catchy, right?"

 

Sue had _definitely_ tattled to Ben this time around, although Johnny wasn't entirely sure how much damage had been done. He figured there was only one way to find out.

Ben didn't make it easy, of course.

"Guess we at least settled that whole thing about who's kicking whose ass around here."

Trying to be friends was one thing; completely rolling over was another. "I was holding back. A lot."

"Sure you were," Ben said. "I mean, you know me. A wilting flower."

"Well, I mean, for someone who's got a skin that's actually made of stone, you're kind of touchy."

Ben frowned. "So I've got feelings, so sue me."

"I was thinking more about setting your world on fire," said Johnny. "Proverbially."

"Proverbially," Ben repeated. "That's real cute."

"Because I'm the Human Torch, so I could do it literally, and, I mean, you're basically a walking rock, so it's not as if the heat would bother you or anything. Would it?" Johnny realized that he possibly hadn't thought about this quite as much as he thought he had.

He'd thought about Ben, being rock-hard all over (some fun possibilities there, surely) but most people didn't really appreciate someone literally setting the sheets on fire, so Johnny hadn't really done much with that part of himself without his clothes on.

"You've got a real way with words, huh?"

Trust Ben to get stuck on the wrong track. "You think you can get a better offer, be my guest."

"Oh, so I should date you because there's no one else?" said Ben. "Well, newsflash, Hot Rod, there is. Fact, there's plenty."

" _Date_ me?" Johnny said. "Who said anything about _dating_ me?"

Ben blinked. "What were you talking about, then?"

"Sex?" Johnny said. "Really hot and dirty sex? Sex so awesome that will totally blow your mind?"

"Oh," said Ben. "Right. Well, okay, I guess. Just ... what's in it for me, huh?"

 

_epilogue_

"You have an action figure of me. That's adorable."

"Shut up. I just wanted to complete the set so I could get the poster, okay?"


End file.
